Valerie eyed the nearby trees. She was certain she'd caught a glimpse of the white-winged heron again... brief, and he seemed to have noticed her, but she most certainly did. If only he'd stay put long enough for her to talk to him...

It made sense, she supposed, that he would hide. If he was indeed Lysander, he was assumed dead by many, and making himself known would be far too risky. Still, for the rebels, he would be a priceless asset... and probably could explain exactly what had happened to the late King, all things considered.

They couldn't let this opportunity go to waste.

Aidan sat at the base of a tree, peeling an orange and grumbling to himself somewhat. Since that little episode whereupon he got lost as a bit of punishment he'd been set to act as something of a lookout for Lysander, lest the poor Heron were to get himself spotted again. Needless to say, Aidan found this incredibly boring.

But once Ash got a hair up his ass about something, well... not much you can do about it. Out of the corner of his eye, some movement. A girl, from the shape of her. Couldn't see her face, though. Perhaps the same girl Lysander described, that spotted him? Who knew? Best run interference anyway. He stood up, still peeling his orange, and somewhat meandered over in the girl's general direction.

She saw him, but didn't think too much of it - it wasn't uncommon for the less fortunate citizens of Valhalla to wander outside, and... well, judging by the young man's clothing, he definitely wasn't one of the most fortunate.

She cast him a glance before turning her attentions back to the trees. Maybe she'd lost him, but... looking around a while longer couldn't hurt.

Lalala wanderwanderwander, yeah she was definitely looking for something up on the trees. He smiled at her when she glanced, and then he... sort of stopped.

That girl...

She... had to be just about the prettiest girl he'd ever seen.

And... he'd seen a few in his short years. He fumbled the orange, and sort of tripped over it. "Ah crap," he exclaimed as he flailed, failnig to keep his balance, falling on his ass with a rather embarrassing thud.

The thud brought her attention back to the (rather clumsy) young man. Had he tripped? She stifled a sigh - this was distraction she didn't need, but still. Valerie decided to ignore the trees for the moment, and walked over to him, extending a hand. "Are you all right?"

He couldn't help but blush furiously, laughing nervously as he hesitated a moment before extending his hand. "Ah yeah, you're perfe-- I mean I'm perfect. Except for, y'know, my pride being torn to shreds just now."

She would have raised an eyebrow at the young man's awkwardness if not for the fact she was busy once again looking at the nearby trees. And at him, yes, but that was mostly out of politeness - ah, right. "It happens."

Embarrassed as all hell at making a total fool out of himself in front of such a pretty woman, he just kept blushing and chuckling nervously. "Yeah... Valhalla doesn't seem to like me." He spoke with a bit of an accent- one which he'd carefully cultivated over the years, the better to seem like a tourist. Funny that he would be one when he needed it. "Erm... So uh... Hi."

"Hello." From his accent, he didn't seem to be from Valhalla. Maybe he was lost - ah, but. Lysander was more important at the moment... he'd have to forgive her. "Ah, I'm very sorry, I need to be going..."

Oh man, smooth, Aidan, real smooth.

"Oh... er... um... You don't... have to go that quickly do you? I'm... well, a little lost." In more ways than one.

"Ah, I'm really sorry. If you're looking for the city, it's straight south from here, that way." She motioned vaguely in the direction of the city gates. "There should be knights there who can help you."

"...Oh," was, remarkably, all he could manage. "Um... Thanks..."

"You're quite welcome. I'm really sorry about-"

For a second she felt a sharp pain on the back of her head, and barely managed to turn and catch a glimpse of a black wing before collapsing.

"What the-- Ash!" he called out, recognizing the flurry of feathers.

The raven growled at Aidan, his face set into a scowl. "Fucking smooth there, kid. Real fucking smooth."

(About an hour later...)

It took all the pathetic puppy-facing he could muster for Ash to actually let him stay to watch over her until she woke up. He rolled up a blanket under her head and he just... sat there with her, quietly, admiring her.

And it took her at least an hour to stir back to consciousness - the blow he'd landed on the back of her head had been quite effective.

Once she realized exactly what had happened, Valerie forced herself to her feet in a hurried motion, weapon readily drawn and pointed at the young man.

She'd been careless, but not anymore. ...Even if she was still somewhat dizzy and not very steady on her feet.

He smiled... but only for a moment. He raised his hands in a gesture of submission. "Hey! Hold on a sec! Guess you're alright enough, aren't you?" he frowned.

"What did you... do to me," she managed, struggling to keep a steady hold on her sword's hilt. For all she knew, this could've been an ambush of some kind, and if he was still there when she woke up... who knew what he'd been doing!

...Narga, it was difficult to focus, though.

"I... made sure nothing happened to you while you were out. I'd've gone to get help but... that'd imply leaving you here by yourself. And I'm kind of too scrawny to pick you up and carry you..."

That would have been great and all if not for the fact something had knocked her out in the first place. "Who was it that knocked me out...?" She only vaguely remembered black feathers. A laguz...?

Aidan gestured with his head towards a nearby tree, and a rather large branch on the ground. "That." Smooth lie. Plausible one, really.

"No. I saw someone." She frowned. He was becoming more suspicious by the minute now.

"Er... no, I'm pretty sure it was that branch. I was kinda here, and all."

"Don't lie to me. I saw it. A raven." She wasn't quite sure it had been a raven, but it was her best bet.

For this man to be lying about it, they were probably together - were they associated with the heron in any way...?

"Er, must be the knock making you hallucinate. I saw nothing of the sort," he said, looking confused. "Maybe I should escort you back to wherever you live or whatnot, or make sure you get some proper attention?"

Her frown deepened, and she sheathed her sword. Insisting wouldn't get her anywhere, it would probably be best to drop the subject - still, she was positive it had been someone and not just a branch. Not only had she seen it, a branch would also never be able to knock her out on the back of the head efficiently enough.

"No, there's no need." She still didn't look very convinced.

"You barely look like you can stand up. C'mon, don't be proud," he chanced lowering his hands. "Let me help you."

"No." She turned around to leave, trying to steady herself enough to walk. It was probably careless to turn her back to him, but given what had happened, if he'd wanted to kill her he would already have...

"Wow, you're stubborn," he muttered under his breath as he took a step toward her. "Seriously, I'm on the level. Check your belongings, your pockets, everything. I'd've done something other than stick around otherwise."

How aggravating. "I saw the raven. I don't know why you're lying to me, but I don't trust you."

Aidan sighed, trying not to look too crestfallen. "Look, just check alright? Aren't ravens supposed to be all thief-y or something?" he smiled patiently at her. "I'm serious. You just got knocked out in a freak accident. Why's that so hard to believe?"

"Because branches don't hit people on the nape," she pointed out, taking a few steps away from him before losing balance and falling on one knee. "Especially... not this hard and with this much precision."

"You know, in Silesia they say it only takes a snowflake falling in the wrong palce at the wrong time to cause an avalanche," he approached her, crouching and putting his hands on her arms so as to keep her steady before he tried to help her back up to her feet.

"I'm a trained knight. I can tell a branch from a fist," she hissed, pulling away from him as soon as she was able. If she'd been thinking more carefully, she'd have realized that maybe she was being a little too honest with this... suspicious fellow. Then again, she'd been careless enough to let someone sneak up on her...

Aidan frowned slightly, shaking his head. "Or maybe you're just paranoid," he shrugged, then started to turn away, trying not to look too hurt. " Fine. I'll leave you alone. But go get that looked at, okay?"

She said nothing, and after another moment of steadying herself - properly this time - Valerie simply walked away. That had been extremely frustrating, albeit... odd. He was right; all her possessions were still on her and other than the dull ache from the blow she was perfectly fine. It didn't make much sense for him to be teamed up with whoever knocked her out, but... still. Something about all of it was off. Maybe they were with the heron and trying to get her away from him...?

She stopped, glanced at him over her shoulder. "We just want to know what happened to our King," she noted vaguely, before turning around again. If he was with Lysander, he might make sense of it; if not, maybe he'd just think she was crazy and not give it much thought. Even to a knight loyal to Chalphy the remark should sound innocent enough...

Aidan stopped, looking over his shoulder at her quizzically. "That's... normal I would think?" He wondered why she would say a thing like that...

"Maybe he could answer that." Lysander and the King were close, all of the servants from back then could tell. If there was anyone who could answer it...

"... That'd be difficult, hasn't the King been dead for two decades or so?"

She turned around to face him again. "You know a lot for a foreigner."

Oh shit.

"My brother and I, we read a lot," he shrugged and started to walk away.

"That's not the sort of thing that's recorded in foreign books," she pointed out. That, and he didn't seem very much like the... reading sort.

"I can read and speak three languages," he said, somewhat petulantly.

He knew more than he wanted to tell, didn't he? Maybe she'd gambled right this time... "Which book was it?"

"I dunno, I don't read the titles, I just grab whatever my brother thinks I should read," he waved over his shoulder at her, still walking.

She started toward him - fortunately she'd regained her balance for the most part. If he knew nothing, he'd have no reasons to run away like that, and if she let him go, she was sure she'd never see him again.

"Please, if you're with him, tell me. I want to help."

Aidan stopped, looked over his shoulder, and gave her a certain look... "Sorry. I don't know what you're talking about, honestly..." She should get the message, if she truly wanted to help.

Whether she got the message or not, she only sighed, waited for him to turn back around... and hurled the branch he'd claimed had knocked her out at him, hitting him square on the back of the head.

'Freak accident', of course.

... Thud.

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ABOUT

Heritage (or Legacy) is an original character roleplay inspired by the Fire Emblem games and specifically set in the world of the fourth installment of the series. This is the second generation of the game; you can find the first generation archived here.

You don't need any canon knowledge, nor do you need to have been in the first generation to play! If you're interested, please visit the wiki for more information!